Well, for Ike my build is A Distant Counter and B Beorc's Blessing at the moment. People were telling me that Dc nullify' the axes ability but Ike is so strong, I'd rather hit back and possibly take out the enemy then take 2 hit's, even if it is reduced by a whopping 80%.
I'm also contemplating if Beroc's blessing is even good... if I understand it correctly. It basically just negates horse emblem boosts? Could just go Dc vantage cuz he is a hard hitter..

Otherwise, like the others, his default set isn't bad. The only real deviations I've seen in arena is the distant counter.

For BIke his kill count skyrockets with quick riposte as his B skill. If I give him Aether for his special, that might help keep him QR range. Keep his vanilla Steady breath to charge Aether faster, add the HP+ or distant defense seal and he might be done. (btw I do not have hector for DC... and if I do get one, I am adding it to Effie)

For BIke his kill count skyrockets with quick riposte as his B skill. If I give him Aether for his special, that might help keep him QR range. Keep his vanilla Steady breath to charge Aether faster, add the HP+ or distant defense seal and he might be done. (btw I do not have hector for DC... and if I do get one, I am adding it to Effie)

If you are not using him to tank Blade cavalry, I would give BH!Ike Ignis and Quick Riposte. I prefer to kill as many enemies as soon as possible in the first round of combat. It is generally safer in my opinion prioritize killing enemies than leaving them alive. I also do not think it is a good idea to cripple his first round of combat just so he can activate a Special later since there are many other factors to take into account like positioning, enemy Vantage, and enemy health (if you are planning to use Aether).

If Ike is primarily used to tank melee enemies, it does not make much sense to keep Aether since the enemies will be no where near full health when Aether activates.

I do not think Aether works too well on green mages either. Cecilia, Nino, Sonya, and Soren will not be able to bring his health to over 70% due to their high attack (most of them run Blades) and low HP, especially if they use Fury. Aether does not work on Julia since she cannot charge his Special in time due to her slowness; the same applies to SF!Camilla as well, unless she has both +Spd and Hone Flier buff.

That only leaves blue mages and colorless units as suitable candidates to use Aether on.